English_books / lexis

PUTTING WORDS INTO SENTENCES

Ten words have been selected from the original vocabulary list for closer study. These words and their related forms are listed below.

Activity 1

Read the paragraph below, then restate the sentences, using the word forms given. You may need to add words or change the word order to make the sentences logical.

tors in forests during extremely dry seasons is an effective technique to prevent forest fires.

Activity 2

Write sentences about fire prevention in the home by using the word groups below, You may have to change the word order or add words to make the sentences grammatical and logical.

1.prevention/home/save lives/fire/property

2.matches/young children/prevented/fires/keeping

3.fireplaces/fires/sparks/preventable/screens

4.fires/removing/heaters and stoves/curtains/prevent

5.best/measures/homeowners/installing/preventive/smoke alarms

Activity 3

To destroy something is to put an end to it or to make it useless.

Insects can destroy/arm crops.

Read the paragraph below, then restate the sentences using the word forms given. You may need to add words or change the word order to make the sentences logical.

of dollars' worth of damage is done by vandals who attack picnic tables, signs, and restrooms with knives, spray paint, and gun shots with the intention of doing dam-

nearly impossible to protect trees from vandals, who kill them by pulling off branches -or chopping them down, (g) What a shame that the beauty of the outdoors can be

Activity 4

A habitat is the natural environment of a living creature.

The habitat of gray kangaroos is the low prairies of Australia.

A habitation is a dwelling place.

Some birds build habitations of mud and sticks.

A place is inhabited if someone lives there. It is uninhabited if no one lives there. If conditions are such that no one is able to live in a place, then the place is uninhabitable. There are no inhabitants.

176 Lexis

Be/ore the drought, the area was densely inhabited. Now the area is so dry that it

8. Unfortunately, large open spaces are scarce, so the new towns are smaller and have fewer

Activity 5

The information below shows the population density of eight countries of the world.

Source: U.N. Demographic Yearbook, 1988.

Using the following phrases, formulate sentences about the data. The first one has been done for you.

(the least) (the most) densely inhabited (less) (more) densely inhabited

(the most) sparsely inhabited

1. Japan: Japan is densely inhabited.

2. Mongolia

3. France and the United States

Activity 6

To resist something can mean "to oppose or to fight against something."

Whenever he resists the temptation to overeat, he is proud of himself. He is proud when he has resistance.

To resist something can also mean "to remain unchanged or unharmed by something." Redwood trees are able to resist insect attack.

Redwood trees are resistant to insect attack.

When something is irresistible, it is too powerful or too pleasant to be ignored or opposed.

The powerful thrusts of earthquakes are irresistible, and rocks soon weaken and crack.

The hungry child found the candy irresistible, and she ate it all.

Restate each of the following sentences, using the words in parentheses.

1.The bee is an insect that can be found in virtually every part of the world; it is able to withstand all climatic extremes except those found at the North and South Poles, (resist)

2.Because most bees live and work in large groups, they are able to endure the attacks of many of their enemies, (resistance)

3.If a bee colony is disturbed, the bees fight by attacking and stinging anything that moves, (resist)

4.The bee's habitation is an intricate honeycomb that has waterproof walls that are able to sustain 30 times their weight, (resistant)

5.Bears and ants are enemies to the bees because they are strongly attracted to the sweet honey and will destroy a beehive in their pursuit of it. (irresistible)

6.Thousands of bees die every year because they are unable to tolerate the poisons that farmers use to kill other insects, (resistant)

178 Lexis

Activity 7

To endure has two meanings. In its intransitive form, it means "to continue or last." In its transitive form, it means "to bear, tolerate, or suffer without giving in."

The great Egyptian pyramids have endured /or thousands of years. The pyramids have endured earthquakes, floods, and other disasters.

Restate the following sentences to include the word endure. The first one has been done for you.

1. Without oxygen, a human will die in four to six minutes.

A human cannot endure more than /our to six minutes without oxygen.

2.Camels inhabit hot, dry deserts and can go for days without water.

3.Eskimos in frigid polar areas keep warm by wearing thick fur clothing.

4.Severe winters cause food shortages for forest animals like deer.

Activity 8

To endure has several forms, all related in some way to lasting over time or to tolerating something. Durable and durability mean "not easily worn out or destroyed."

Levis blue jeans are known for their durability.

Endurance and (un)endurabJe refer to the ability to tolerate.

My headache is bad, but the pain is endurable.

Enduring means "lasting a long time."

Shakespeare's plays are enduring classics.

A duration is a continuous period of time.

Temperatures in Iowa were above normal /or a duration o/three years.

Use one of the above words in each space to complete the following paragraph. Noise pollution is an invisible danger in our world. When human ears are ex-

els of 90 decibels on the job are required to wear ear protectors. As examples of sound intensities, a helicopter overhead has a decible level of 72, a ringing telephone 83, a

cells inside the ear is limited. High-decibel noises can destroy them and cause perma-

nent hearing loss.

Activity 9

Restate each of the following sentences to include the word in parentheses. The first one has been done for you.

1. Hurricane tracking and reporting are relatively recent because they depend on rapid communication, (origin)

Hurricane tracking and reporting are of relatively recent origin because they depend on rapid communication.

2.Hurricanes used to be identified by the place where they started, (origination)

3.The idea of giving names to individual hurricanes first appeared in a 1941 novel, (originated)

4.The practice was adopted by the U.S. National Hurricane Center, which maintains five rotating lists of names in alphabetical order. After five hurricane seasons, the first list is used again, (original)

5.In 1984, for example, the first hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean was named Ana, the second Bob, and successive ones Claudette, David, Elena, and so on. (to originate)

6.Only female names were used until 1979, when male names were added, (originally)

7.If a hurricane has been particularly destructive, its name is withdrawn and another name substituted in the list of names, (original)

Activity 10 •

To provide something means "to supply something."

Satellites provide commercial fishing fleets with data about the location of big schools offish.

Fishing fleets depend on satellites for the provision of data on fishing locations.

Write sentences that combine the information given. Do not change the word order of the given words. Use provide or provision in each sentence. The first one has been done for you.

1. seismometers/scientists/earthquakes

Seismometers provide scientists with data on earthquakes.

2.astronomers/radio telescopes/outer space

3.cities/hydroelectric plants/electricity

4.fossil fuels/energy/factories

5.grains/dependable food supply/most underdeveloped countries

180 Lexis

Activity 11

To provide for something means "to foresee" or "to take action for special circumstances." To make provisions for has the same meaning.

People in the path of a hurricane must provide for possible food shortages after the storm. They must make provisions for water shortages, too.

Write sentences that combine the information given. Use provide for or make provisions for in each sentence. You may change the order of the information or the word forms if necessary. The first one has been done for you.

1. hurricane forecasters/erratic winds/predicting where a hurricane will strike

Hurricane forecasters must provide for erratic winds when they predict where a hurricane will strike.

2.architects/designing new buildings/people in wheelchairs

3.calendars/add an extra day every four years/an extra quarter-day every year

4.people have no transportation/supply buses to transport them/earthquake evacuation plans

5.first aid supplies/hikers/medical emergencies

Activity 12

Provided (that) means "on the condition (that)" or "if." In sentences, the phrase introduces a dependent clause. Sometimes providing is used instead.

Lightning strikes are harmless provided that they don't hit people, animals, or objects.

Complete the following sentence with your own ideas.

1.Hurricane warnings can save lives provided that

2.Nation A might offer economic assistance to Nation В following a catastrophe provided that

3.Forests that suffer fire damage will flourish again in about 30 years provided that

4.Atomic power plants are safe provided that

5.Wilderness areas can be kept beautiful providing that

Activity 13

To exploit something means "to use something for selfish purposes or for profit." It also means "to take advantage of." The word is often used in a negative way.

Dishonest companies exploit their customers by offering poor-quality merchandise at high prices.

1970s. Settlers have extended civilization into the once sparsely inhabited forests and have damaged them. It is not known how much of the Brazilian forests have been destroyed. In the state of Rondonia more than 20 percent of the trees have been burned or chopped down to create roads, towns, and farms. If the destruction continues at the present rate, the forests in Rondonia will be totally destroyed in 25 years. No one can foresee precisely how the destruction of the forests will affect the earth, but scientists theorize that the tremendous loss of oxygen-producing green plants will affect the earth's atmosphere.

1.Until recently, how much of Brazil was covered with tropical forests? (extended)

2.What has happened to the forests since the 1970s? (extensively)

3.What has damaged the sparsely inhabited forests? (extension)

4.How much of the Brazilian forests have been destroyed? (extent)

5.What is the extent of damage in Rondonia? (so extensive that)

6.How will the destruction of forests affect the earth? (to what extent)

Activity 15

Intensity is energy or strength and is used to describe qualities such as heat, cold, color, sound, light, and pressure.

The intensity of sound is measured in decibels.

To intensify is to grow stronger. Intensification is the process of growing stronger. High humidity intensifies the discomfort of hot weather.

Intense/intensely mean "extreme/extremely" or "strong/strongly."

The intense heat of the fire forced the firefighters back. The fire was intensely hot.

Intensive/intensively mean "to a great degree or concentration."

Firefighters receive intensive training in life-saving techniques. They are intensively trained.

The Modified Mercalli Scale and the Richter Scale are two systems for measuring the intensity of earthquakes. The two scales are difficult to compare because they measure two different things. The Richter Scale measures the intensity of earthquakes in terms of earth movement, while the Mercalli Scale measures the intensity of earthquakes in terms of effects. Table 8.1 is a rough comparison of the two scales. It shows what effects could be expected in a densely inhabited area with various intensities of earth movement. As an example, the October 1989 San Francisco earthquake measured 7.1 on the Richter Scale and between VI and IX on the Mercalli Scale in various parts of the city. The most powerful quake ever measured was the 9.5 quake that occurred in Chile in 1960.

Look at Table 8.1, then answer the questions that follow.

If you heard a radio news report that said, "Last night, sleepers were awakened and windows rattled when an earthquake struck Los Angeles," what measurements would you expect the quake to have on both the Richter and Mercalli scales? (intensity)

The complete Mercalli descriptions also include the emotional reactions of people to an earthquake. What emotion would people probably feel in a IX earthquake? (intense)

What do the numbers 1-9 represent on the Richter Scale? (intensification)

Why would a II earthquake probably be felt only by people on the upper floors of tall buildings? (intensify)

The Mercalli rating is highest at the point of origin of a quake and dwindles at increasing distances from the point of origin. Why is this so? (intensive)

USING WORDS IN CONTEXT

Activity 1

The following groups of sentences are in scrambled order. Put them in the correct order by numbering them. When the sentence groups are read in the correct order, they will result in a coherent paragraph.

a.Japan, a densely inhabited country, is bursting with people. Cities have extended outward and upward to their limits.

b.Comfort is not the only consideration, however. The underground cities must also be safe.

Шiexis'